Retractable guard and guide for nailer

ABSTRACT

A guide and guard plate pivoted on the head of a driver for nails or staples projects beyond the head for engagement with an edge of a crate, for example, to guide the driver head for inserting fasteners along the margin of the work. In such projected position the plate shields the safety prongs from being depressed inadvertently to condition the driver for operation. The plate can be swung into retracted position for face nailing spaced farther from the work edge by grasping a handle on it, and a spring-tensioned strip attached to the plate will return it to projected position when the handle is released.

United States Patent Grinnell et al. 1 51 June 20, 1972 54] RETRACTABLEGUARD AND GUIDE 2,915,754 12/1959 Wandel ..227/s FOR NAILER 3,467,2949/l969 Fisher ..227/& 1,074,800 l0/l9l3 King ..227/I 39 1 Inventors: FwdGM, 2122 63rd. Swtle. 2,797,414 7/1957 Bolster .227/1 10 Wash. 98103;Clark J. Hall, 8$09-l7th P1396, Seattle, 981 15 PrimaryExaminer-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. 22 Filed: March 2, 1970 AmmekmbenBeach [21] Appl. No.: 15,479 [57] ABSTRACT A guide and guard platepivoted on the head of a driver for [52] U.S. Cl ..227/8, 227/1 10,227/139, nails or stap es p ojec beyon t e h ad for engagement with227/140, 227/1 19 an edge of a crate, for example, to guide the driverhead for in- [51] Int.Cl ..B25c 7/00 "fling fasteners 31008 the margin0f the Work- Such P 58 Field 01 Search ..227 5, 6, 7,8, 120, 140, 150, iPosition the Plate shields thc Safety prongs from being 227,148, 156'107, no 1 11 I I9, 139 depressed inadvertently to condition the driverfor operation. The plate can be swung into retracted position for facenailing [56] References and spaced farther from the work edge bygrasping a handle on it,

and a spring-tensioned strip attached to the plate will return it toprojected position when the handle is released.

5 China, 7 Drawing figures RETRACTABLE GUARD AND GUIDE FOR NAILER Theprincipal object of the invention is to provide mechanism having thedual function of preventing inadvertent operation of a nail or stapledriver and which also will function as a guide for locating the driverhead consistently for driving fasteners adjacent to an edge of a workpiece.

A further object is to provide such mechanism which normally will occupya protective position to prevent inadvertent operation of the driver,but which can be moved at will to a position inoperative to deteroperation of the driver so that the driver can be used for face nailingat any location.

It is also an object to provide an additional handle which can serve thedual purpose of shifting the operation-preventing member and enablingthe gun to be handled with two hands more conveniently.

An additional object is to provide mechanism for preventing inadvertentoperation of a driver which is of simple and inexpensive construction,yet which is effective in operation.

FIG. I is a side elevation of a driver equipped with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the driver showing its opposite side, pansbeing broken away, and

FIG. 3 is a plan of the driver with parts broken away;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the driver corresponding to FIG. 1,showing parts in a different position;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation similar to FIG. 2 with parts in a differentposition, and

FIG. 6 is a plan similar to FIG. 3 but with parts in the differentposition of FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan with parts in the position of FIG. 6 but with the workomitted and having parts broken away.

The driver I, having a pistol-grip handle 2 and a magazine 3 extendingbetween the handle and the head 4, is of conventional type. Such adriver can be used for driving fasteners of various types such as nails,staples or corrugated fasteners. The type of magazine 3 provided for thedriver will depend upon the type and size of the fasteners to be driven.Also, the size and construction of the driver itself may differ somewhatdepending upon the type of fasteners being driven.

In use the operator grasps the handle 2 and pulls the trigger 5, whichopens a valve controlling flow of air under pressure from the air supplyline 6 to the driver head 4. While the driver shown in the drawings isof the pneumatic type, the present invention could be applied to anelectric driver as well. Reciprocable safety prongs 7 are spring-pressedoutwardly so as normally to project beyond the nose 8 of the driver. Aslong as such prongs are in the projected position shown in FIG. 7, asafety valve in the air line remains closed so that the driver cannot beoperated. When these safety prongs are pressed inward, however, byengagement with a work piece, the actua tion of the driver is completelyunder the control of the valve actuated by the trigger 5.

The attachment of the guide and guard plate according to the presentinvention is carried by a fixed plate 9 attached to the side of thedriver head by bolts or rivets. Such plate does not project toward thework 10 quite as far as the nose 8 of the driver, so that such platewould not interfere with the safety prongs 7 or nose 8 contacting thework. A representative workpiece is shown in FIGS. I, 2 and 3 asincluding the face board I0 and the backing 11. Such a face board may bethe side of a crate, for example, and the backing 11 can be a stiffeningor supporting strip to be secured to the face board.

The two most common types of nailing, particularly in as semblingshipping crates, are face nailing, illustrated in FIGS. I, 2 and 3,where the face board extends a substantial distance beyond oppositesides of the nailing location, and margin nailing where an edge portion10' of a face board is secured to a backing as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and6. In the latter case, for example, nails or staples can be driven in arow along the edge portion or margin I0 of the face board into thebacking I I.

In order to prevent the fastener from splitting a narrow backing I I, itis important that the fastener be driven into the backing a sufficientdistance from each of its edges. The backing is, of course, hidden fromthe view of the operator when he is driving a fastener into the edgeportion I0 of the face board, and the operator normally must use hisjudgment as to where to locate the nose of the driver to drive thefastener. According to the present invention a plate 12 is mounted onthe head 4 of the driver to define a plane parallel to the path ofmovement of the fastener into the work and spaced from such path ofmovement a distance sufficient to insure that the fastener will bespaced adequately from both sides of the backing I I.

In the construction shown in the drawings the guide plate 12 is mountedon fixed side plate 9 by a pivot 13 defining an axis extendingtransversely of the fixed plate 9 and the guide plate I2 and disposedparallel to the face of the work engaged by the driver nose. The guideplate I2 is normally held by a tension strip 14, attached to the guideplate at a location spaced from its pivot, in a position projectingedgewise a substantial distance beyond the edge of the fixed plate 9 andthe driver nose 8, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

The tension strip I4 may include a helical coil received in the housing15 and acted on by a spring tending to wind up the strip. Consequently,when the strip is pulled endwise from its casing and then released, thespring in the casing will wind the coil of the strip to pull back intothe casing the portion of the strip which ws withdrawn from it.

Because of the relative positions of the pivot I3, the tension stripcasing I5 and the point on plate 12 at which the tension strip I4 isattached to it, swinging of the plate 12 about its pivot from theposition of FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 to the position of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, willdraw a stretch of the tension strip from the casing as indicated by acomparison of FIG. I with FIG. 4. Swinging of plate I2 in this mannercan be facilitated by providing handle I6 on the side of the plateprojecting from it generally parallel to the axis of pivot I3, whichhandle is shown best in FIGS. 3 and 7. When the handle is released, thespring acting on tension strip I4 will swing the plate I2 back from theretracted position of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 into the projected position ofFIGS. 4, 5 and 6.

For fast nailing a workman may grasp the pistol grip 2 and pull thetrigger 5 while the driver is not pressed against the work, and rely onthe safety valve controlled by the safety prongs 7 to prevent operationof the driver. The nose of the driver can then be pressed toward thework at various locations and, as contact of the safety prongs 7 withthe work pushes them inward, the driver will be actuated to drive afastener. The difficulty is that the workman may inadvertently move thehead of the driver toward his leg or some other object than the workmomentarily sufficiently to move the safety prongs 7 inward. In suchcase a fastener will be driven inad vertently by the driver, which maycause injury to the workman using the driver or to another workman or tosome article.

It will be seen particularly by reference to FIG. 7 that, when the guardplate 12 is in its projected position of that figure, it is virtuallyimpossible to move the nose 8 of the driver toward an articleinadvertently to effect actuation of the driver even if the trigger 5 ispulled. On the other hand, such safety prongs are readily accessiblewhen the guard plate I2 has been swung from the projected position ofFIGS. 4, 5 and 6 into the retracted position of FIGS. I, 2 and 3. Inorder to move the guard plate into this position, however, the operatorwould grasp the handle I6 so that the driver is being held much morefirmly and stably by both hands.

In addition to the safety aspect of the guard plate I2 its use as aguide for margin nailing in the manner shown particularly in FIGS. 4 and6 is very desirable. Here again the driver can be held stably by bothhands, one grasping the pistol grip 2 and the other grasping the handleI6, to facilitate manipulation of the driver. When thus held the drivercan be slid along the margin 10' of a workpiece, and nails or otherfasteners can be driven quickly at spaced intervals either by holdingthe safety prongs 7 against the work, as shown in FIG. 6, and pullingthe trigger 5 intermittently, or by holding the trigger depressed andmoving the nailer away from the work sufficiently to allow the safetyprongs 7 to be projected and then toward the work periodically at thelocations where it is desirable to drive a fastener.

Similarly for face nailing, the handle 16 can be grasped and held in aposition to keep the guard plate 12 retracted, and nailing can then beaccomplished either by depressing the trigger periodically or by movingthe nose 8 of the driver toward the work intermittently. in this type ofoperation also the driver can be held stably and controlled much moreeffectively than has been possible heretofore by the operator graspingthe pistol grip 2 with one hand and the handle 16 with the other hand.

lclaim:

1. In a fastener driver having a driver body, a fastener magazinecarried by the body and a driver head carried by the body, receivingfasteners from the magazine and having an aperture defining apredetermined path along which fasteners to be driven are discharged,the improvement comprising guide and guard means offset from suchpredetermined path defined by the fastener discharge aperturetransversely of such path so as to leave the fastener discharge paththrough and beyond the aperture unobstructed by said guide and guardmeans, and pivot means offset from such predetermined path defined bythe fastener discharge aperture, extending transversely of such path andmounting said guide and guard means for swinging between a projectedposition projecting beyond the discharge end of the fastener dischargeaperture at one side of said pivot means and a retracted positionlocated rearwardly of the discharge end of the fastener dischargeaperture and at the opposite side of said pivot means.

2. In the fastener driver defined in claim 1, a handle carried by theguide and guard means which can be grasped for swinging such means awayfrom its projected position into its retracted position.

3. in the fastener driver defined in claim I, the guide and guard meansincluding a plate disposed ofi'set from and substantially parallel tothe predetermined fastener discharge path defined by the aperture in thedriver head.

4. In the fastener driver defined in claim 1, the driving head having asafety prong projectible therefrom and reciprocable to control theactuation of the driver, the pivot means extending transversely of thedirection of reciprocation of the safety prong, and the guide and guardmeans projecting beyond said safety prong in its extended position whenthe guide and guard means is disposed in its projected position.

5. in a fastener driver having a driver body, a fastener magazinecarried by the body and a driver head carried by the body, receivingfasteners from the magazine and having an aperture defining apredetermined path along which fasteners to be driven are discharged,the improvement comprising guide and guard means offset from suchpredetermined path defined by the fastener discharge aperturetransversely of such path so as to leave the fastener discharge paththrough and beyond the aperture unobstructed by said guide and guardmeans, said guide and guard means including a plate disposed offset fromand substantially parallel to the predetermined path of fastenerdischarge defined by the aperture in the driver head and projectingbeyond the discharge end of the fastener discharge aperture and meansmounting said guide and guard means plate for movement relative to thedriver head between the position projecting beyond the discharge end ofthe fastener discharge aperture and a retracted position rearwardly ofthe discharge end of the fastener discharge aperture.

:1 a m e e

1. In a fastener driver having a driver body, a fastener magazinecarried by the body and a driver head carried by the body, receivingfasteners from the magazine and having an aperture defining apredetermined path along which fasteners to be driven are discharged,the improvement comprising guide and guard means offset from suchpredetermined path defined by the fastener discharge aperturetransversely of such path so as to leave the fastener discharge paththrough and beyond the aperture unobstructed by said guide and guardmeans, and pivot means offset from such predetermined path defined bythe fastener discharge aperture, extending transversely of such path andmounting said guide and guard means for swinging between a projectedposition projecting beyond the discharge end of the fastener dischargeaperture at one side of said pivot means and a retracted positionlocated rearwardly of the discharge end of the fastener dischargeaperture and at the opposite side of said pivot means.
 2. In thefastener driver defined in claim 1, a handle carried by the guide andguard means which can be grasped for swinging such means away from itsprojected position into its retracted position.
 3. In the fastenerdriver defined in claim 1, the guide and guard means including a platedisposed offset from and substantially parallel to the predeterminedfastener discharge path defined by the aperture in the driver head. 4.In the fastener driver defined in Claim 1, the driving head having asafety prong projectible therefrom and reciprocable to control theactuation of the driver, the pivot means extending transversely of thedirection of reciprocation of the safety prong, and the guide and guardmeans projecting beyond said safety prong in its extended position whenthe guide and guard means is disposed in its projected position.
 5. In afastener driver having a driver body, a fastener magazine carried by thebody and a driver head carried by the body, receiving fasteners from themagazine and having an aperture defining a predetermined path alongwhich fasteners to be driven are discharged, the improvement comprisingguide and guard means offset from such predetermined path defined by thefastener discharge aperture transversely of such path so as to leave thefastener discharge path through and beyond the aperture unobstructed bysaid guide and guard means, said guide and guard means including a platedisposed offset from and substantially parallel to the predeterminedpath of fastener discharge defined by the aperture in the driver headand projecting beyond the discharge end of the fastener dischargeaperture and means mounting said guide and guard means plate formovement relative to the driver head between the position projectingbeyond the discharge end of the fastener discharge aperture and aretracted position rearwardly of the discharge end of the fastenerdischarge aperture.